Eau d'E
Bogue Profumo (2012)

Eau d'E goes on with a mentholated aromatic lavender and woody green cypress blend, as a laurel and clove driven culinary herbal citrus accord joins in support. As the fragrance enters the early heart the laurel and clove both grow in intensity as the other supporting culinary herbs remain with the woody cypress and citrus fading considerably. At this point underneath the starring laurel is what appears to be a hint of fiery red pepper and woody incense, adding warmth to the otherwise relatively fresh light composition. As the fragrance enters the late dry-down, it becomes slightly powdery and resinous as traces of dry amber join the now heavily subdued remnants of the herbal blend. Projection is below average and longevity is average at 7-8 hours on skin.

Eau d'E is quite different from most Eau de Cologne style fragrances with its highly aromatic complex blend of florals, herbs and spices, citrus and woody greens. The Bogue house style has been compared by some elsewhere to that of O'driu and while the two houses are far from similar in their composition implementation I can see where the comparisons are coming from. The culinary herbal blends the two use are different, but while Bogue has a much lighter and easy-to-wear general style, the off-beat renegade nature of the two can't be denied. The truth is I am only guessing on many of the notes in Eau d'E as the composition is quite well-blended and the citrus aspects in particular are difficult to place, though it would not surprise me if natural lemon was one of them. If there is an aspect of the composition that is less exciting it is the late dry-down as the fragrance turns very mild and slightly powdery, evoking memories of a clean spring countryside breeze, eschewing most of the more genre bending aspects of the composition. The bottom line is at 100 euros for 50ml (70 euros for 30) the 99 bottle limited edition Eau d'E is far from inexpensive, but there is something quite satisfying in supporting an indie house from Italy like Bogue that is breaking the typical composition mold while still crafting a very easy to wear 4.5 star outstanding smelling fragrance. The best recommendation I can give is that I thought highly enough of Eau d'E to buy a bottle. Eau d'E shows Bogue's Antonio Gardoni is quite talented and I expect great things from him to come.